Since its very first release, Koonunga Hill Chardonnay has managed to proudly maintain the Penfolds tradition of delivering outstanding wine quality at an affordable price point. In fact, it is ...more

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Since its very first release, Koonunga Hill Chardonnay has managed to proudly maintain the Penfolds tradition of delivering outstanding wine quality at an affordable price point. In fact, it is now considered by many to be amongst Australia’s best value whites.
Over recent vintages, this wine has benefited from the increased focus on white winemaking at Penfolds and the introduction of new wines in upper tiers. Premium fruit is often relegated down into Koonunga Hill Chardonnay, improving its overall elegance and finesse.
This Chardonnay is a well-proportioned wine, with distinctive primary fruit characters and good levels of intensity. Matured for several months in small French oak barriques, it is a richly concentrated wine with plenty of varietal definition and creamy flavours.

Producer

Australia’s winemaking history of less than two hundred years is brief by European measures though, like Europe, punctuated by periods of extreme success and difficult times. From the earliest winemaking days Penfolds has figured prominently and few would argue the importance of Penfolds’ influence on Australia’s winemaking psyche.
Without the influence of Penfolds the modern Australian wine industry would look very different indeed. Sitting comfortably outside of fad and fashion, Penfolds has taken Australian wine to the world on a grand stage and forged a reputation for quality that is without peer.
Penfolds’ reputation for making wines of provenance and cellaring potential might suggest a mantle of tradition and formality is the preferred attire of a company with so much history to defend. But to label Penfolds as simply an established and conventional winemaker, would be to confuse tradition with consideration and to overlook the innovative spirit that has driven Penfolds since its foundation, and continues to find expression in modern times.
If there is anything traditional about Penfolds, it is the practice of constantly reviewing the wines it already does well, and continuously evolving and refining styles as vineyards mature and access to ever older and more varied vineyard sites improves.